I am pretty sure that i have also been ripped off by Mr. Barakat.
here is my sad and pathetic story:
I initially placed my order in July 2007. I tried to pay with my credit card through the website. i thought that the order went through without a problem. several weeks went by and i did not receive the order. so i emailed mr. barakat and told him that i had not received my order. it was then that he told me that his paypal was "down" and that my credit card was never charged due to this problem. you would think that he or someone else from his company would have contacted me during that time to let me know that the paypal was down. But no one did.
anyway, Mr. Barakat told me that i would be charged [and my order shipped] when the paypal was back up. i verified that the oder had not been charged to my credit card.
sometime in August of 2007, i became nervous. just to be on the safe side, i cancelled my credit card. but I still wanted the merchandise that i had ordered. Mr. Barakat was very good with communication via email up to this point. so i did not think that I would have any problems.
in October 07 i emailed him and asked whether i could just send him a personal check instead as i was tired of waiting for the paypal to be up again. I told him not to charge to the credit card because i had cancelled it in August. he said okay. i then mailed him a personal check.
Mr. Barakat emailed me on October 29, 2007 and wrote: "Hi, We have received mail from you and it's pending processing. You should receive another email within 7 business days of the status of your payment and order shipping." My bank informed me that the check cleared on November 5, 2007. On November 7 Mr. Barakat wrote to me and told me that "the deposit was made and once it's transferred to our account, your order will be shipped in 5 business days as usual. you will be notified then." This is the last that I heard from him! now his website is down. he will not answer the telephone. I have 813-217-5545 as his number. this is a tampa number. i have called him several times. each time, i get a recording telling me that the mailbox is full. now his website is gone and the emails are being kicked back.
I have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. i have read through the list of complaints that have been filed in the past against techtraders.
it appears that most of the complaints related to delivery problems, refunds, etc. that were filed against him at the Better Business Burea have been resolved. so, it is worth a try.
i either want my money back or i want the merchandise that i ordered. if he does correct this problem, then i will gladly come back to this website and report that he made things right.
sucker
Miami, Florida
U.S.A.
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